Reader is Ready to Split the Competition

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State's Jon Reader may have won the match, but he still wasn't satisfied. He wants to be dominant and score points. The Cyclone wrestling faithful have seen Reader score copiously in his first two seasons. Over 60 percent of Reader's victories in his ISU career have been for bonus points.

The Davison, Mich., native has always had the frame of mind to look to score on the mat. Reader is happy the new coaching staff feels the same way.

“I'm in love with this coaching staff,” Reader said. “Everything that all of our coaches are bringing to the table is phenomenal. We are keeping it simple. It is world-class technique but is not necessarily hard stuff to do. It is just the things that people overlook.”

The ISU 165-pounder is certainly not an easy wrestler to overlook. Reader, ranked third in the nation, has earned All-America accolades each season thus far, placing seventh and fourth at the NCAA Championships as a freshman and sophomore, respectively.

Reader took to the freestyle wrestling circuit this past summer to aid in his climb up the NCAA podium this season. He turned in a silver medal effort at the Pan Am Games and was a U.S. representative in the Ziolkowski International tournament in Poland.

The Iowa Stater saw the freestyle wrestling knowledge he acquired as invaluable.

“I've gained some great experience in mat wrestling and that extra work has helped me bring a lot more out there this year,” Reader said. “It's not just the summer freestyle wrestling, though. It is this coaching staff. They are helping me with my wrestling style, philosophy and tactics. If I keep working at it, I'll be able to really go out their and dominate.”

In one of the highlight matches of the Dec. 6 ISU-Iowa dual, Reader, who was ranked fifth at 165 pounds, took down Iowa's Ryan Morningstar, ranked No. 4, by a score of 4-3. The Cyclone had been hounded by the Iowa wrestler last year, losing three matches by a combined five points. Two of the losses came in overtime.

Reader knows to happily accept any victory, but creating more action is always his goal.

“It was a hard feeling for me because it was a win,” Reader said. “A win is a win. It was hard leaving that match feeling that I left him thinking he could beat me. We've had some battles in the past. He's a great competitor. The connections I've been making with this coaching staff have helped.”

In the tight bout with Morningstar, Reader precariously held off his familiar foe from scoring on a couple different opportunities.

“I feel like I put myself in situations where I could get scored on,” Reader said. “It wasn't necessarily him getting himself in situations to score on me. I just didn't make the connections.”

Reader displayed an unorthodox defense to the 11,137 in attendance at Hilton Coliseum by hitting the splits on the mat to avoid Morningstar gaining control of a second leg. Reader's flexibility has impressed many while frustrating his past opponents.

“I've heard about it like 800 times since that match,” Reader said. “I'm pretty flexible, but I don't try to rely on it. It's me putting myself in that situation. That wasn't necessarily the position I needed to be in, because me doing the splits was the wrong technique. I should have gotten my hips back, put his head down and gone around the corner.”

Always in good spirits for either competition or practice, Reader sees the closing weeks of December as instrumental time for improvement.

“These two weeks leading up to Midlands, along with the UNI dual in there, are really important for making some gains,” Reader said. “We will push hard these two weeks because it is important to get the philosophy now.”

Reader, along with the rest of the Cyclone wrestlers, hit the mat next Dec. 19 for a dual occasion at Northern Iowa at 2 p.m.